I love Lone Survivor. It reduced me to a whimpering pile of sweat and tears – much like all the other things I’ve ever loved. It was, in my eyes, a wonderfully complete and coherent experience, so any further additions are survival-horror-friendly gravy – which probably has, like, eyeballs in it or something. Creator Jasper Byrne, however, has seen fit to make a whole slew of tweaks en route to a Steam release (currently on sale for £5.59), dubbing the final product Lone Survivor Codename: Red. Chief among them? A new “red” ending, which will apparently become even more robust in a “yellow” update planned for release later this year.

You can check out the full (and fairly massive) changelog through the link, but a couple other standouts include ten percent slower increases in hunger and a clearer path to the can opener, because god damn it, I just wanted to eat my fruit salad.

Now then, a slight problem: the update’s currently only available through Steam, and Byrne’s attempting to get free Steam keys for all previous buyers. Otherwise, well, as he puts it: “This has been my biggest concern, and please believe me when I say I’m doing eveything I can to give you an easy way of getting it. There is no way to get round the fact that I’m pretty much going to have to email several thousand people individually.”

So here’s hoping he figures something out. In the meantime, though, I highly, highly recommend that you delve into the slightly unsettling (but mostly incredible) fogs of Adam’s lengthy interview with Byrne. It’s chock full of interesting stuff, and part two – in all its spoilerific glory – is still on the way.

While this isn’t an official announcement, you should almost definitely be able to get a Steam key within a week, and the saved game can continue right on with Steam.

I’ve updated my blog with more info about this (linked to by the article.)

Don’t worry, it’s just a short delay, and Valve have agreed to give the keys I need to cover all existing customers who’d prefer to have their copy on Steam. I’m still working on a way to distribute them tidily and efficiently (partly for my own sanity), as well as providing a good non-Steam alternative. The issue of how to supply customers who would prefer to have their copy off-Steam I’m still finalising.

If we wait a while, will versions purchased directly from you be getting future updates? Or are they going exclusively through Steam from now on? I’ve got a lot of games on my plate at the moment, so I don’t mind waiting to pick it up directly from you when the update is in. The soundtrack though, that I’ll be snapping up very soon.

Thanks for this notice, Mr. Byrne. I bought the game from your website as soon as I knew it was released, and when I noticed it on Steam yesterday I was hoping to get a Steam Key for it. I’m glad I didn’t find the time to finish it yet, because now I have a great excuse to start it from the beginning again. And don’t worry, I’m sure I speak for most of your customers when I say that I don’t mind waiting until you find the best way to deliver the Steam codes. Also, I’m glad to see your game made on the Top Sellers list; it is well deserved.

You’re a cool guy and I’ll be happy to support you in your future endeavors.

I bought this after reading the article – the game being on Steam was the final little push that I needed. And wow, it’s wonderful! Reminds me of all the best parts of early Silent Hill and Resident Evil games. That tense struggle to make progress, room by room, excited but also scared to see what’s around the next corner. About an hour into it, I quickly got back on the Steam store and bought copies for two of my friends, simply because I needed someone to talk to about the game.

I saw Jasper reply to a post above; if you’re reading this, I just wanted to say thanks for making such a brilliant, disturbing, inspired game :-)